Today we’re featuring a Kindle original from my friend Joanna Campbell Slan. Joanna and I met at a West Virginia Readers/Writers conference some years ago before she was writing fiction, and I’ve so enjoyed watching her career bloom.

Joanna is offering to gift a copy of today’s featured book, Tear Down and Die to one randomly chosen commenter.

Sometimes it’s nice to get away, isn’t it? I just returned from a cruise, and while Internet was available (at an extravagant fee) I chose not to use it. Part of it was a natural aversion to rates of $.75 a minute. Another was the hassle of getting connected and the fear I would somehow forget to disconnect (quite a lengthy process) and pay $.75 a minute for the entire cruise.

When she discovered that her schizophrenic brother’s health was deteriorating due to a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, she decided to plant her own garden — not only for her brother but for her community.

Now she has 200 volunteers tending nine acres of gardens providing fresh food for low income folks in and around Charlotte, North Carolina.

Welcome to Fiction Friday, my opportunity each week to post an excerpt from one of my own books or those of my friends, present-day or long-departed colleagues.

Last Friday I introduced you to The Unmasking, one of my first novels and soon to be a brand-new ebook. Here’s another installment to enjoy and to enhance your own Carnival spirit in these weeks before Mardi Gras.

I’m on vacation right now, celebrating a special wedding anniversary with my husband. We decided to do a cruise since this year has been very busy and neither of us wanted a busy vacation, too. The idea of sailing almost anywhere and letting somebody else take care of basics for a while quickly grew on us.

Dale Beatty was serving in the National Guard in Northern Iraq when his vehicle hit a roadside mine. He returned to the US after both of his legs were amputated, and yet he kept a positive attitude about his life.

Following his recovery his church and community built a handicapped-accessible home for him to live in.

Welcome to Fiction Friday, my opportunity each week to post an excerpt from one of my own books or those of my friends, present-day or long-departed colleagues.

Today you’re in for a treat, or at least I hope you’ll think so. In New Orleans, where I lived for seven years, this is Carnival season, the prelude to Mardi Gras day, which this year falls on March 4th.